Pahalgam attack: Won't allow single drop of water to flow into Pak: Centre
The government plans to strengthen existing dams and build infrastructure to better manage India’s own water needs, especially in border states like Punjab and J&K
India on Thursday (April 25) informed Pakistan of its decision to keep the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance with immediate effect, saying Pakistan has breached conditions of the treaty. The letter came in response to the deadly attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam in which 26 people, mostly tourists were killed by terrorists.
Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi met Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to discuss the fallout of the Pahalgam terror attack on tourists. Rahul, who earlier interacted with the injured tourists at the Army hospital in Srinagar, met Abdullah at his residence, officials said.
In Delhi, popular shopping hubs like Connaught Place, Sadar Bazar and Chandni Chowk were among the more than 900 markets that wore a deserted look on Friday as traders observed a 'Delhi Bandh' to protest against the Pahalgam terror attack.
Various merchant associations from sectors such as textiles, spices, utensils, and bullion also kept their shutters down.
Water treaty
Sustained cross-border terrorism by Pakistan targeting Jammu and Kashmir impedes India's rights under the Indus Waters Treaty, India's Secretary of Water Resources Debashree Mukherjee said in a letter addressed to her Pakistani counterpart, Syed Ali Murtaza.
"The obligation to honour a treaty in good faith is fundamental to a treaty. However, what we have seen instead is sustained cross-border terrorism by Pakistan targeting the Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir," the letter read. "The resulting security uncertainties have directly impeded India's full utilisation of its rights under the treaty," the letter said.
On Thursday, the Centre also convened an all-party meeting where it briefed leaders about the attack and heard their views.
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Live Updates
- 25 April 2025 2:32 PM GMT
NIA team visits Pahalgam victim's home in Pune
NIA team visits Pune residence of Santosh Jagdale, who was among 26 people killed in Pahalgam terror attack sources
- 25 April 2025 2:28 PM GMT
Siddaramaiah takes pot shot at Modi over promise to punish Pahalgam terrorists
Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's promise of handing over the harshest punishment to the perpetrators of the 2019 Pulwama terror attack, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement that India would identify, track, and punish every terrorist and their backers responsible for the Pahalgam attack “beyond their imagination.”
"This happened even after he made the same statement in 2019. What did he say after the Pulwama terror attack? After that statement, 27 people were killed in Pahalgam by terrorists. He had then said he would wipe out terrorism. What happened?" Siddaramaiah told reporters here.
Responding to a query, he said he had no information about what transpired at the all-party meeting held on Thursday in New Delhi. "There were a lot of people around me, and I couldn’t follow it properly." "It’s a central intelligence failure," Siddaramaiah alleged.
Terrorists opened fire at a tourist spot near Pahalgam in Kashmir on the afternoon of April 22, killing 26 people—mostly tourists—in the deadliest attack in the Valley since the 2019 Pulwama strike.
- 25 April 2025 2:23 PM GMT
Won't allow a single drop of water to flow into Pakistan : Union Minister
Following India's decision to suspend the Indus Water Treaty with Pakistan in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack, the government is working on a strategy to ensure that not a single drop of water flows from India into Pakistan, Jal Shakti Minister C R Paatil asserted on Friday following a high-level meeting chaired by Home Minister Amit Shah.
Paatil said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has issued a slew of directives, and the meeting was held to follow up on them and Shah made several suggestions at the meeting for their effective implementation.
"We will ensure that not a single drop of water flows into Pakistan from India," he said after the meeting.
Sources said the government is working on a long-term plan to ensure the effective implementation of its decisions.
Shah held the meeting to discuss the future course of action on the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 with Pakistan, which has been kept in abeyance following Tuesday's Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 people were killed.
Besides Paatil, senior officials of several ministries attended the meeting, sources said.
India has already informed Pakistan of its decision to keep the treaty in abeyance with immediate effect, as the neighbouring country has breached its conditions by targeting Jammu and Kashmir with sustained cross-border terrorism.
- 25 April 2025 2:18 PM GMT
Pahalgam attack: Muslims raise anti-Pakistan slogans in Madhya Pradesh
Wearing black armbands, a large number of Muslim community members came out on streets of Madhya Pradesh after Friday prayers to denounce the terror attack at tourist hotspot of Pahalgam in Kashmir and seek stern action against the perpetrators of the massacre.
Members of the minority community staged protests in Bhopal, Khargone and Harda as they chanted anti-Pakistan slogans, burnt effigies of terrorism and urged the government to take strong diplomatic and military measures against Islamabad in the wake of the carnage.
Heavily armed terrorists struck a prime tourist location in Pahalgam in south Kashmir on April 22, killing at least 26 people, mostly holiday-makers from other states, including Maharashtra, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.
In Bhopal, protesters held placards with messages like "Hindustan Zindabad" (long live India) and "Pakistan Murdabad" (down with Pakistan). Muslim demonstrators, including women and children wearing black armbands, shouted slogans against Pakistan and burnt an effigy of terrorism in the state capital.
A child wearing a white skull cap was seen holding a placard reading "Stop Shedding Blood".
An angry protester said, "The incident that happened in Kashmir is murder of humanity. We want to tell the Prime Minister -- open the border with Pakistan and let the Muslims of India go there to prove their loyalty to the country." He asserted terrorism does not have a religion and those who commit such diabolical acts should be dealt with an iron hand.
The protesters demanded that terrorists responsible for the Pahalgam carnage be caught and hanged.
- 25 April 2025 2:13 PM GMT
Pahalgam attack aimed at showing peace in J&K is temporary : Ex Army commander
The Pahalgam attack was a preplanned operation intended to send a strategic message by the terrorists and their handlers, including the Pakistan army, that the return of normalcy to Jammu and Kashmir is "temporary", a former Indian Army commander said on Friday.
Targeting the victims based on their religious identity was also part of this strategic move to incite communal violence in the country as a possible backlash of the incident, he added.
"New things are emerging when we analyse this attack. First and foremost, it was preplanned and designed to send a strategic message by the terrorists and their handlers, including the Pakistan army," former Eastern Command chief Lt Gen. (retd) Rana Pratap Kalita told PTI.
He explained that the attackers sought to demonstrate that "the signs of normalcy returning to Jammu and Kashmir — be it smooth elections or a large influx of tourists — were temporary." Kalita said the attack on tourists holds relevance as the terrorists knew that it would harm the common Kashmiris, with many earning their living through the tourism sector.
"There were some sporadic incidents. But large-scale targeting (of tourists) is something new. They (terrorists) know it is going to harm the common Kashmiris," he added.
Highlighting the meticulous planning involved, he added, "Selection of the place — an isolated spot with no security presence — and the timing, coinciding with the visits of the US Vice-President and Prime Minister Modi’s trip to Saudi Arabia, was done with a lot of detailed coordination, plan and deliberation." "The fact that the religious identity of the targets was asked is something new and goes with the ‘strategic messaging.’ My reading is that they possibly wanted to incite communal violence by the possible backlash of this incident in other parts of the country. As Indians, we must avoid it," he said.
